Boston Phoenix's Mark Jurkowitz analyzes recent major changes at New York's two alt-weekly newspapers, 50-year-old "granddaddy of alternative journalism"
Village Voice and 18-year-old New YorkPress. The
Voice's editor and publisher left--and other staff changes followed--after it merged with
New Times
Media, a company whose ethos was categorized by an opponent as "libertarianism on the rocks with giant stocks of neo-con politics." At the
Press, the major players on its masthead
resigned last week after management vetoed publication of the riot-inspiring Dutch cartoon. Such turmoil, says Jurkowitz, is
"a sure indicator that the alt-weekly business,
despite its long-entrenched emphasis on politics, pop culture, and stylistic license, is struggling for relevance in an increasingly fragmented marketplace where there are now numerous
rivals--including the blogosphere--to the alternative press." advertisement
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